I am working on circuit shown below
Current flowing through circuit is 88.235 mAmp
I = V/R = 24/272 = 88.235mA
which generates heat of
68*88.235*88.235 = 0.529 Watt
I have used resistors of 1 watt but it generates little heat.
Will this resistor sustain for longer time?
or
should I increase the wattage?
Best Answer
Are you asking whether a 1 W resistor is OK with a sustained 0.53 W power dissipation?
Yes, that is fine within reason. The resistor will get hot, that's normal, the power is turned to heat and it will be designed to cope with that heat under normal circumstances. If you were to put it in an oven, in a vacuum, or cover it in thermal insulation then things could be different. But if it's sitting in a normal room then it won't be a problem.
It may also be an issue if all 4 resistors are pushed up next to each other, leave some space between them.
A higher wattage rated resistor will get almost as hot, it will still be getting the same amount of heating but it will normally be larger giving it more surface area to use for cooling.